• Clavicle Fracture, Concussion, and ACL Injury

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Youth sports injuries include clavicle tear and concussionsContact High School Fall Season Sports Injuries: Clavicle Fracture, Concussions and the ACL Injury

    The training for the fall sports season officially starts July 15th. High School Fall Season contact sports (football and soccer) bring about many injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to more serious injuries requiring surgical intervention. Among the more common fall contact sports injuries seen are: clavicle fractures, concussions, and the ACL injury. A Clavicle fracture is typically caused from a direct blow to the collar bone.

    Typically a clavicle fracture will heal without surgery. The fractures that are at risk for not healing or healing in a position that can cause dysfunction to the shoulder are the ones that are shortened greater than 2 centimeters, communition at the fracture site (fracture is in more than 2 pieces) and 100 percent displacement (no bone to bone contact at the fracture ends). The above mentioned clavicle fractures would be considered for surgery intervention.

    If surgery is necessary to repair a clavicle fracture, a plate that is specially designed to conform to the shape of the clavicle is placed and held with a series of low profile screws. The surgery is performed as an outpatient procedure.

    If the clavicle fracture does not exhibit the above mentioned findings on x-ray then conservative treatment is instituted. Conservative treatment typically consists of being placed in a sling for comfort, an oral NSAID medication for pain control, and ice being applied at the fracture site until the swelling has reduced. Sometimes short term use of pain medication is needed especially to help with sleep.

    As the fracture fragments begin to heal the pain drops significantly.  In patients with open growth plates this occurs very rapidly within 2 to 3 weeks. Return to a contact sport can range from 6 weeks to 3 months based on the type of the clavicle fracture pattern and the specific sport.

    Concussions are also common in the fall high school sports. The highest incidence is among soccer and football players. In 2009 the Lystedt Law was passed in the state of Washington and has subsequently been adopted by all states except one. The goal of this law was to reduce the number of student athletes suffering from concussions. Concussions have been proven to cause short term and potentially long term permanent cognitive effects (brain damage).

    In summary the Lystedt Law required athletes be removed from a game or practice when they developed symptoms that were consistent with a concussion. The injured student athlete could not return until they were seen by a healthcare provider that was trained in the diagnosis and management of concussions.

    The law also requires that the student-athlete, parents and coaching staff undergo education on identifying and preventing concussions. A consent is also signed by both the coaches, the athletes and the parents annually.

    There are some helpful resources available on preventing concussions. The Center for Disease Control has an excellent online program for education: “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports.”

    The ACL injury is a devastating knee injury that occurs most commonly in female soccer players.  It is a season ending injury that can result in early onset osteoarthritis. It is associated 50 percent of the time with meniscal tears and can be associated with cartilage damage that causes long term pain and disability to the knee.

    ACL prevention programs have been reported to reduce rates of the ACL injury by 60 percent. The PEP program or variations of it have been instituted in the high schools where I am the team physician. If a student athlete tears their ACL a reconstruction is recommended. (more…)

    Frozen Shoulder Treatment Without Surgery

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Treating frozen shoulderBest Non-Surgical Treatment for Frozen Shoulder

    A frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that occurs when the shoulder loses range of motion and becomes painful. A true frozen shoulder occurs when there is no other etiology for the loss of range of motion such as an underlying rotator cuff tear, impingement syndrome, or labral pathology.

    Most frozen shoulders occur in Caucasian women between the age of 40 to 65. More resistance frozen shoulders occur in people with diabetes or hypothyroidism.

    Frozen shoulders occur in three phases: 1. freezing, 2. frozen, and 3. thawing. The freezing phase occurs with a progressive loss of range of motion. Trying to place the shoulder in a position that stretches the shoulder past that range is very painful. Stiff shoulders are typically painful.

    The frozen phase is marked by a plateau of the loss of range of motion.

    The thawing phase of frozen shoulder occurs when the range of motion starts to improve and the pain is reduced. The condition may resolve on its on and be self limiting. There are some studies that show patients may continue to have symptoms up to 7 years after the condition starts and never resolve on their own.

    Frozen Shoulder treatment options range (more…)

    Osteoarthritis Treatment and Physical Activity

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    osteoarthritis treatment and physical activityLight physical activity yields significant benefits for those suffering from osteoarthritis, according to latest research. Lead scientist Dr. Dorothy Dunlop at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University found that staying as physically active as possible is very beneficial to people a they get older.

    In a study with about 1,700 adults between 45 and 79 years of age, participants wore accelerometers (devices that tracked their movement including intensity level) for about 7 days. After two years the researchers reached back out to the study participants to see if they had developed any physical disabilities over the 2 year period.

    Researchers found that the people who regularly participated in light physical activity like vacuum cleaning, pushing a shopping cart, or walking leisurely, were one third to one half less likely to have experienced a disability, as compared to the individuals who engaged in the least amount of regular light activity.

    This is an important finding showing that doing even light activity has benefits in terms of osteoarthritis treatment. Another interested benefit of light physical activity was that it helped slow down the disease progression for those suffering from some type of disability. (more…)

    Benefits of Physical Activity for Seniors

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Benefits of physical activityEngaging in Sustained Physical Activity Good for Seniors – Older people who stay physically active may be less likely to experience heart problems like a heart attack, according to the latest research. Exercise helps a person’s heart by cutting down on the risk of heart rhythm problems.

    Looking at data from nearly 1,000 adults with an average age of 71, researchers including Dr. Luisa Soares-Miranda at the Harvard School of Public Health found that heart rate variability was linked to physical activity. Heart rate variability is the variation in time between each of your heartbeats. The more active people were, the few abnormalities they experienced.

    According to the research findings, older individuals with the highest levels of physical activity were about 11 percent less likely to have a heart attack or to suffer from sudden cardiac death than those who were the least active. (more…)

    Overuse Injuries and Mountain Biking

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Mountain biking and overuse injuriesMountain Biking and Overuse Injuries Researchers at Northern Arizona University led by Dr. Michael Lebec looked at whether there were injury differences between mountain bikers engaged in single-speed riding and those with bikes that have multiple gears.

    According to the research findings, mountain bikers commonly experience overuse injuries. Just over 400 mountain bikers were surveyed in this study to report injuries sustained over the course of the prior year.

    Just over three out of five respondents reported some type of overuse injury with the most common being in the lumbar/spine, knee, hands and wrists, and cervical spine. Importantly, individuals riding on a single speed bike did not have a higher overuse injury rate than those on bikes with multiple gears. (more…)

    ACL Injury Risk and Soccer Players

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL injury risk is a common sports injury for many athletes, especially in certain sports. Soccer is a sport that has a higher than average ACL injury risk.

    Research led by Dr. Brophy and colleagues (2014) at Washington University Orthopedics examines the mechanisms of ACL injury risk for soccer players.  In this sports medicine study, videos of ACL injuries for about 55 male and female soccer players were analyzed to understand the injuries affecting the anterior cruciate ligament.

    About three fourths of the injuries happened when the other soccer team had the ball and the athlete suffering from the injury was playing a defense role.

    Gender differences in regards to ACL injury were also observed. For example, female soccer players were more likely than males to be defending when they experienced an ACL injury. In addition, female soccer players were more likely than males to experience a non-contact ACL injury in their left knee.

    The most common soccer action leading to an ACL injury was tackling and to a lesser extent, cutting. Most ACL injuries happened from some type of contact. (more…)

    Physical Activity For Kids A Priority

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Many kids in the United States need more physical activity, as reported by the American College of Sports Medicine. 

    According to Dr. Russell R. Pate, a professor at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, only about one out of four children in the U.S. are getting the recommended amount of physical activity each day.

    The current physical activity for kids guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate activity for kids ages 6 to 15 years. Moderate activity can include a wide range of things like brisk walking, dribbling a basketball, exploring a playground, hiking in the woods, or slow jogging.

    Perhaps even more troubling, the percentage of kids that spend half of their day being sedentary goes up as kids get older. Just 8 percent of kids between 12 and 15 years of age get more than an hour of (more…)

    Sleep Quality and Athletes

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Getting Enough Quality Sleep Proves A Major Part Of Good Athletic Conditioning

    According to Harvard Medical Professor Dr. Czeisler, sleep plays a fundamental role in improving athletic performance.

    As the director of Harvard’s Division of Sleep Medicine, Dr. Czeisler is sometimes called the “sleep doctor.” He consults various athletic teams all around the country and has also worked with the Secret Service and NASA.

    Some of his recommendations related to sleep and sleep quality include the following:

    1. Get enough sleep (between 7 and 9 hours) each night
    2. Take pre-game naps
    3. Sometimes consider substituting naps for practice time

    Another interesting piece of advice involves sleeping after a lesson or game.

    Dr. Czeisler explains “If you don’t sleep the night after training, then even if you sleep the next night or the next night, you never learn.”   (more…)

    Preventing Skin Cancer During Outdoor Activity

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    Sunny Summer Days are Almost Here – Learn 6 Tip to Prevent Skin Cancer –

    Did you know that May is national skin cancer detection and prevention month? An estimated 9,710 Americans will die this year due to melanoma. It is the most common type of cancer for young adults between 25 and 29 years old and the second most common for those ages 15 to 24.

    Early detection is extremely important with skin cancer since it is often very treatable if you identify it early. For people who enjoy spending a lot of time outside gardening, swimming, walking, and engaging in other outdoor activities during the beautiful spring and summer months, it is particularly important to be aware of the risks of skin cancer and how to protect yourself.

    Here are 6 things you can do to protect yourself if you are interested in preventing skin cancer during the hot, sunny days of spring and summer.

    1. Wear a hat, sunglasses, and protective clothing.

    2. Use sunscreen that has UVA and UVB coverage with an SPF of 30 or higher on any exposed skin areas including hands, feet, and ears. (more…)

    A Comparison of ACL Injury Rates for Female Athletes Playing Lacrosse and Field Hockey

    Posted by Orthopaedic Specialists

    ACL Injury Rates for Female Athletes – Comparing Lacrosse and Field Hockey  

    Researchers led by Dr. Hillary J. Braun and colleagues looked at the differences in risk factors for ACL injuries for female athletes who are field hockey players compared to lacrosse players. Prior research has suggested that ACL injuries tend to be more common for women playing lacrosse than field hockey.

    In order to assess the biomechanical risk factors for female lacrosse and field hockey players, researchers attempted to understand why lacrosse might yield an increase in ACL injury incidence. Researchers recognized the different posture demands of the two sports, with field hockey players often in a crouching position that is forward flexing, and lacrosse players having a more upright stance with a lot of overhead throwing.

    The study recruited 31 Division I NCAA female athletes from field hockey and lacrosse. They were asked to do four tasks three times with each leg. This included bilateral drop jumps, single leg drop jumps, single leg jumps onto a bosu ball, and a 45 degree anticipated cut. (more…)